Source: New Zealand Parliament – Hansard
Question No. 4—Health
4. Dr SHANE RETI (National) to the Minister of Health: How many people identified by his “high-powered” waiting list task force as having waited more than 12 months on the surgical waiting list have had surgery, and how many have been removed from that list due to being medically unfit for treatment?
Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Health): Wait-list numbers change every day—for example, when patients are scheduled, treated, or there is a change in clinical circumstance. As at 1 July this year, the clinical task force appointed by Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand had identified 5,405 patients who had been waiting more than 12 months. Between 1 July this year and 31 August this year, 734 people had been treated or discharged and removed from the wait-list. As at 31 August, the wait-list for those waiting over 365 days stood at 5,104, which reflects the net movement of people on the wait-list; 672 of those people had been booked for surgery, 1,772 people had been scheduled but not yet notified of surgery, 2,660 had not yet been scheduled for surgery, and approximately 70 had returned to the care of their GP. It’s important to understand that a patient’s procedure might be deferred if they have a minor illness such as a cold. However, it’s unlikely that this would be coded as medically unfit for treatment, because to do so requires that the time frame for when treatment can be rescheduled is unknown. Therefore, what I can say is Te Whatu Ora advised that approximately 81, or 1.5 percent, of patients have been coded with what they describe as Exit Category 15: Medically unfit for treatment. Responding to the global pandemic has resulted in delays to planned care. Our doctors and nurses are doing a magnificent job addressing the backlog, and I thank them for their hard work.
Dr Shane Reti: What does he say to those 81 people who were fit for surgery when the surgeon put them on the wait-list 12 months ago but because they have waited 12 months, they are now too unwell and have been removed from his priority list?
Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Well, I don’t think it’s possible to generalise about the people in that particular category, but I do note, when we sort of do a comparative example, for those described as medically unfit for treatment, in the year to 30 June 2017 about 2.3 percent of people were described as medically unfit for treatment and therefore did not get their treatment. In the period to 30 June 2021, which is the last full year for which we have current data, it was 1.8 percent. So even with dealing with a pandemic, our health system is doing better than the final years of the previous Government.
Dr Shane Reti: Why, in written questions, is exit data missing for people waiting more than 12 months for surgery on the priority list, including two whole months missing from MidCentral, and which other areas have similar missing data from this list?
Hon ANDREW LITTLE: One of the appalling parts of the health system that we inherited from the previous Government is the hopeless data system that we had—so a totally disaggregated system. That’s why last year we started the long, hard journey of investing more than $600 million to upgrade our data system so that every hospital is able to gather data and report it consistently, something the previous Government totally overlooked.
Dr Shane Reti: Is missing data his new excuse now for some of the worst waiting lists ever given that his recent attempt to blame the worst flu season ever is not supported by Institute of Environmental Science and Research health stats data from 300 general practices?
Hon ANDREW LITTLE: No, the missing data is my explanation for the appalling stewardship of our health system by the previous National Government, who under-resourced it and underfunded it and left health professionals doing the best they could with appalling systems.
Dr Shane Reti: How many patients waiting more than 12 months on his priority surgical list died while waiting, and of the three codes he gives for removal from that list, are deaths while waiting recorded as the code “change in patient circumstances” or “medically unfit for treatment”?
Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I don’t have that data, but what I do know, and as I indicated in the answer to that member’s first supplementary question, is that the ability for the health system today to deal with those who’ve been waiting a long time for their surgery and get their treatment, even though it is overdue, is better than in the final years of the previous National Government.
